AMBER Alert Issued For Brevard County Girl (Titusville, FL) -- A Brevard County child is the subject of an AMBER Alert. The FDLE issued the alert for an unidentified 15-year-old girl.
She was last seen in Titusville yesterday on Barna Ave where agents say she was pulled into a dark-colored SUV. She's described as black, about 5-5 and has multi-colored braids in her hair.
Mother Indicted In Death Of Children (Sharpes, FL) -- A mother is charged with killing her newborn twins in Brevard County. West Melbourne 30-year-old Rachael Lynn Thomas was indicted yesterday on two counts of first-degree murder.
The children were found last month at her home shortly after Thomas gave birth. "Florida Today" reports she's being held without bond and will be back in court today.
St. Pete Will Not Provide Police For Schools (St. Petersburg, FL) -- St. Petersburg won't be providing more police officers for Pinellas County schools. Mayor Rick Kriseman announced yesterday staffing the elementary schools is too expensive. He says the 30 or so officers the school district requested would cost the city more than three million dollars.
A state law passed after the deadly school shooting in Broward County requires armed security at all public schools, but Kriseman criticized lawmakers for not providing the funding needed to comply with the law.
Florida Sues Pharmaceutical Companies In Opioids War (Tallahassee, FL) -- Florida and five other states are filing a new lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies in the ongoing war on opioid abuse. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi alleges in the civil suit filed yesterday that the companies use deceptive marketing to boost sales, which ultimately leads to overdose deaths.
Bondi says the crisis claims 175 lives every day nationally, and 15 lives daily in Florida. Bondi says the suit is to hold drug makers and distributors liable for their actions.
Child Pees During Marriage Proposal (Bay City, MI) -- The video of a Michigan couple getting engaged has gone viral thanks to the free spirit of a three-year-old. Kevin Pryztula [[ press-TOO-luh ]] and his girlfriend Allyssa [[ uh-LEE-suh ]] were spending a lovely afternoon in Bay City, Michigan this past weekend, along with Alyssa's three-year-old son Owen.
Kevin was in the middle of dropping to one knee to propose when little Owen, standing behind Kevin, dropped his pants and started relieving himself on the sidewalk. The smitten couple, engrossed in the romantic moment, had no idea why the person filming the once-in-a-lifetime moment, was laughing so hard. Then they turned to see little Owen, pleased as punch that he hadn't wet his pants. By the way, she said yes.
Ohio Teens Prepare To Compete In Global LEGO Competition (Cincinnati, OH) -- A group of Cincinnati teenagers is preparing to show their robotics knowledge to a global audience. WXIX-TV reports the "Lego Legion" will travel to California next month for the FIRST Lego League's global innovation contest.
The homeschooled students have already won national awards for the "UVeggie," a device that uses motors and Lego bricks to scrub vegetables safely with an ultraviolet light to kill bacteria in tap water.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted off for its final mission in space. Endeavour and its six-man crew were tasked with delivering a two-billion dollar Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer designed to illuminate dark matter and exotic forms of nature for scientists to examine. The mission was led by astronaut Mark Kelly.
2001, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was indicted on charges of spying for Russia. Hanssen later pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
1980, Elvis Presley's personal physician, Dr. George Nickopoulas, was indicted by a grand jury on 14 counts of illegally prescribing drugs to Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and nine others. He was eventually barred from practicing medicine.
1939, food stamps were introduced in the United States.
1866, pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires invented Root Beer.